Hayden Donnell is a contributing writer for The Spinoff.
Struggling to find the correct apportionment of blame for the failure of light rail in Auckland? Hayden Donnell is here to help.
Auckland has made painstaking progress toward becoming a functioning modern city. Now its councillors may put that in jeopardy for a proposal that will save ratepayers an average of 47 cents a week.
Todd Muller has been criticised for posing in front of an upside down tino rangatiratanga flag. Hayden Donnell uses investigative journalism to find out who’s responsible.
For four years running, at the exact same time of year, New Zealand has been terrorised by gangs of avocado thieves.
Last night New Zealand witnessed one of the most exhilarating, confronting political stories to air on national television.
Heta Gardiner's questions offer a glimpse of a media world with different incentives, priorities and cultural values.
Last week, an inaccurate tweet about suicide spread so far that both the Ministry of Health and the Mental Health Foundation had to respond.
Why has New Zealand's startup community been so prominent in the Covid-19 discussion this past week?
This summer, Nestlé released two new flavours of Kiwi Onion Dip. Hayden Donnell, our nation’s leading Kiwi onion dip researcher, delivers the company an angry rebuke.
The 2010s will go down in media history as the Take Decade. Hayden Donnell combed through every single take made in New Zealand in the last 10 years to compose …
Hayden Donnell looks for inspiration and innovation on how to house the city’s future.
Auckland’s Giant Santa is being retired and may be lost forever. This morning he was offered a lifeline from the highest office in NZ.
Phil Goff was returned by a huge margin on Saturday. How will he put that mandate to use this term?
Hayden Donnell identifies who did well, and who got massively owned, in the 2019 local elections.
Sorry about not covering everything that happened these local elections. To make it up to you, we’ve compiled all the stories we missed into an ultimate election-ending list.
Good: setting up places for people to cast a special vote while they’re waiting for their dumplings. Bad: those places running out of voting papers. Hayden Donnell reports on some trouble with Auckland Council’s one stop shops.
For decades, the Far North has been ruled by a collection of conservatives. Now a gang leader-turned-Man Up organiser, an ex Green Party MP, and the lead singer of Opshop are among those trying to replace them.
In the last public debate of the Auckland mayoral campaign, the three leading contenders fronted up to a crowd of rates-averse elderly people – and an unlikely hero emerged.
Louise Hutt is running for Hamilton mayor on a progressive platform. She talks to Hayden Donnell about her plans to start a political movement that will reshape local politics in the city lovingly known as the Tron.
Penny Hulse is retiring after a 27-year council career. She talked to Hayden Donnell about the reasons she stood down, the councillors she can’t stand, the Tamihere vs Goff battle, and her secret to staying sane during even the worst council meetings.
Penny Hulse made a call for collaboration and unity in the final meeting of her 27-year council career today. What are the chances her plea will be granted? Hayden Donnell delivers a grim assessment.
The headlines still haven't conveyed the true extent of the problem.
Every three years, veteran election candidate Tubby Hansen releases major new literary works in the form of his Christchurch voting booklet blurbs. Often they go unappreciated, but not this time.
A perfectly preserved set of Big Fresh Animatronic Fruit and Veges went on sale this week. Hayden Donnell delivers an exclusive update on their fate.
The power balance of the incoming Auckland Council could be decided by two overheated local debates about a golf course and a carpark. Hayden Donnell reports.
Last night Auckland mayoral contender John Tamihere said "sieg heil" when answering a question on diversity. Sadly that has forced us to put together a cheat sheet on how not to say Nazi phrases in debates.
